Ships Need recommendation on my next combat ship.

Hawke613

H
I just finished engineering my Krait Mk2 as a multi-purpose ship and now I want to get a more nimble, specialized ship for PvE bounty hunting. I've been playing for a few weeks and got myself a nice chunk of money and material, so the cost isn't a problem.

Right now I'm torn between the FDL and the Chieftain. So I'm curious on the differences between these two, as well as how they compare to the Krait.

From what I've gathered, the Chieftain is better at pitch/yaw/roll and FDL is better in term of lateral/vertical thruster? How far behind is the FDL compared to the Chieftain in term of pitch/yaw/roll?

I can see that the Chieftain has lower damage output compared to the FDL, does its nimbleness superior enough to make up for the difference?

How do they both compared to the Krait? Since I'm moving over from the Krait Mk2, I'd like to try something that is more nimble, but still have similar DPS. I don't want to feel like I'm downgrading to a worse ship.

Also if anyone have another suggestion for combat ship, please let me know. Thanks :)
 

LifesAJourney

LifesAJourney
I prefer Mk II to a Chieftain for combat lighter than CZs/elite assassination missions/pirate USSes. Although Mk II is much less agile, it's bigger PD allows to feed five efficient beams + small hi-cap corrosive MC and do quite a dmg while staying in HazRes/CNB for hours without rearming. More internals allow for mats gathering, FSD interdictor and stuff.

I use hull-tanked Chieftain equipped with SCB for more demanding combat, where no-reload time is less relevant but short-range weapon loadout makes a good use of her agility.
 
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Hawke613

H
LifesAJourney said:
I prefer Mk II to a Chieftain for combat lighter than CZs/elite assassination missions/pirate USSes. Although Mk II is much less agile, it's bigger PD allows to feed five efficient beams + small hi-cap corrosive MC and do quite a dmg while staying in HazRes/CNB for hours without rearming. More internals allow for mats gathering, FSD interdictor and stuff.

I use hull-tanked Chieftain equipped with SCB for more demanding combat, where no-reload time is less relevant but short-range weapon loadout makes a good use of her agility.
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I like the Krait too, but I wanted something more agile for a change of pace since I've been using the Krait for awhile, which leads to either a Fer de Lance or a Chieftain.
 

LifesAJourney

LifesAJourney
No experience with FDL (I hate offset seats), so I can only recommend the Chieftain. For me she just satisfies different needs and in general has different purpose thus requires different loadout than Krait. Which may result in less efficiency while bounty hunting. She's so much more pleasant to fly, though! :)
 

sinisalo

sinisalo
Both are good ships. I've owned both but sold the Chieftain, kept the FDL. Chieftain is a good ship, and I like the hardpoint arrangement. Haven't ruled out getting another at some point. All my ships are fast shield tanks and I never was happy with what I got out of the Chief. But that was before I had full access to every engineer so might be worth a revisit.

FDL is a good ship. The offset cockpit isn't an issue for me. It can have insane shields, combined with great performance and a good hardpoint layout including one huge slot. Optionals are more limited but it has six utility slots. I think you can't go wrong with either ship, but if asked which one I'd recommend as a dedicated combat ship I'd lean toward the FDL. But the best advice is to fly them both and pick the one you like better. It's like guitar shopping, ya know? I can read all the features, see the finishes, hear the tones. But to really know, you gotta pick it up and play it.
 

Vedmo

Vedmo
I have never been able to fly any ship more effectively in PVE than a Chieftain with cytos & MCs. It rarely takes damage as pretty much lives on the tail of enemy ships melting shields and tearing through power plants in seconds.
 

Slange Lands

Slange Lands
First, I fly mostly fa off in combat, ymmv.

I do a lot of wing massacre missions. Anyway, I can relate my experience with the FDL and Chieftain. The Krait is not nearly as maneuverable as the Chief or FDL so I don't fly the Krait except for AX combat.

1. The FDL is far more maneuverable than the Chieftain in dense rocks. I have been flying a Chief to practice for a Hulltank tournament, and frankly, the Chief is YUCK. :)
2. Boost cycle is longer, i.e. no perma boost
3. Much less damage. Those size one slots are great for debuffs, but the FDL can equip 5 plasma accelerators. PAs are difficult, but so worthwhile because of the insane 2 km damage dropoff. My Chief has Three PAs and three long range rails. Its okay....but TTK is longer.
4. FDL is smaller in size. I hit less rocks than in the Chieftain.
5. If you ever decide to do competitive PvP, the FDL is currently the only choice.
6. The FDL seat is offset. I was at first taken aback. However, I dont notice it anymore because my brain is completely focused on target vector, flying and pips.
7. Pitch on the Chieftain is more sensitive than the FDL.
8. Chief boost speed is slower, more in the 540s, FDLs are in the 551(slow) and up range.

9. Chief has cheaper rebuy.

[Edit] Forgot to mention weapon convergence. Although both the FDL and Chief have bottom hardpoints, I am always having to adjust aim to the Chieftains medium bottom hardpoint. Never on the FDL with its huge.
 
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tolm

tolm
I‘ve tried the FDL and the Mamba and neither is quite right for me. I wanted to like the FAS but the C5 shields and C2 hardpoint placement made it too frustrating. Ended up with the Chieftan ...

My first assumption on the Chief was that the C1s would be ineffective but I have been very surprised. The following setup has been extremely effective in both HAZRES and CZs:

  • 6A Thrusters with G5 Dirty Drive and Drag Drives
  • 6A Power Distributor with G5 Charge Enhanced and Super Conduits
  • Military Grade Hull with G4 Heavy Duty
  • 2x C1 Beam Lasers with G3 Long Range and Thermal Vent
  • 1x C2 Beam Laser as above
  • 2x C3 MultiCannon with G5 Overcharged and AutoLoader
  • 1x C1 MultiCan in with G5 Overcharged and Corrosive
  • C6 BiWeave Shield Gen with G5 Thermal Resist shield and fast charge
  • 1x G3 Kinetic Resist Shield Booster
  • 3x G3 Resist Augmented Shield Booster
  • A bunch of G4 Heavy Duty HRPs and a couple of MRPs
Hardpoint placement on the Chief is excellent - very easy to keep everything on target vs the “underslung” C4 on the FDL or C2s on the FAS.
 

Slange Lands

Slange Lands
I forgot to mention that the Chieftain has broken canopy issues. Be sure to use MRPs. I use a size 5D mrp at the minimum, but then I do PvP where rail spam's a thing.
 

tolm

tolm
Slange Lands said:
I forgot to mention that the Chieftain has broken canopy issues. Be sure to use MRPs. I use a size 5D mrp at the minimum, but then I do PvP where rail spam's a thing.
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Wow, 5D?! I have a 2D and a 1D with the larger slots reserved for hull! But I only do PvE - at least through choice ... ;)
 

Slange Lands

Slange Lands
Yeah, I usually don't even use MRPs. But after two rebuys, I saw the light.... those humans.....

[Edit] I got shot out using a 4d, too.
 

Hawk of Battle

Hawk of Battle
I can only comment on the Chief, which is currently my go-to combat ship for bounty hunting and occasional assassinations. I have 2 large beams and 4 doubleshot frags. It handles most foes quite effectively and I rarely lose shields unless I take on a full wing. Even if it takes damage it can soak it up quite effectively for a while.
 

F4fred

F4fred
You could try both. A lot of the internals are interchangeable and now is a good time to engineer with the discounts. My personal preference is the FDL. I find the Chieftain a bit slow for my taste. Be aware though the FDL requires perseverance. I hated it when I first tried it. The offset seating and the strut. The belly C4 hardpoint. The way it slides. You get used to them over time. Then you start to really appreciate what it can do in terms of dishing out damage and taking in coming fire.
 

Mr T

Mr T
I'd say engineering is probably one of the keys to success here. I tried the FDL for a while and disliked it but then I didn't spend much time engineering it (probably because I didn't like it).

I've found shooting down FDL's to be much easier than a lot of other ships. Yeah, I know NPCs are easy targets but just saying the FDL (Deadly ranked) seems easier to keep behind and shoot down than other ships for some reason.
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
Chief is an excellent value for what it is, and how it handles. It’s certainly more user friendly than the FDL, but in the right hands, the FDL can really pull off some crazy maneuvers. I was anti-FDL for a long time until I gave it an honest try. Nothing moves like it can.

At the end if the day, you’ll be more mobile than you currently are in your Krait. Both are fine for PvE combat, and it all comes down to preference.
 

Hawke613

H
Ok, so I spent 2 day engineering and trying both ships. And I still can't make a decision lol.

The FDL is fast, the lateral thrusters are super nice, but its pitching is not that good unless you stay in the 50% zone. And FA off is a must if you want to keep target in your sight.

The Chieftain is almost the complete opposite. It's slow, and the lateral thrusters are pretty bad, but your pitching is so good I thought my FA was turned off by mistake. You can always keep target in your sight even with FA on, but you need boosting if you want to stick to your target.

They're both nimble but I feel like they're on opposite ends of the spectrum

Moving over from the Krait, I kept overshooting my target on the FDL, and while I was on my Chieftain, all the targets overshoot me instead. This is gonna take some getting used to lol.
 
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